Msc Environmental science (applied)

Absolute Zero

Heya guys,

I am interested in the MSC environmental science in UCD, any current / past students have any information? I have a degree in Geography so I am wondering if anyone else has got into through this route? It says entry "Geography" is ok. Is the UCD one better than teh MSC environmental Science in trinity college?

Thanks guys!

El Siglo

I did the MSc in Trinity but I also did Geography at UCD so have experience of both places. Both places are pretty good but I enjoyed the MSc in Trinity so I'm a wee bit biased.

Absolute Zero

El Siglo wrote: »

I did the MSc in Trinity but I also did Geography at UCD so have experience of both places. Both places are pretty good but I enjoyed the MSc in Trinity so I'm a wee bit biased.

Hey El Siglo,

The Msc in Environmental science in UCD has a strong input from the engineering department, I thought that the modules in say water engineering would be good for future career prospects. How is the Msc in Trinity? Do you learn a lot of skills that can be applied to the environmental sector? For example is the practical side of the course emphasized over the theory. Is there any discussions/interactions with prospective employers or any chance of doing a thesis in association with the business?

Absolute Zero

Absolute Zero wrote: »

Hey El Siglo,

The Msc in Environmental science in UCD has a strong input from the engineering department, I thought that the modules in say water engineering would be good for future career prospects. How is the Msc in Trinity? Do you learn a lot of skills that can be applied to the environmental sector? For example is the practical side of the course emphasized over the theory. Is there any discussions/interactions with prospective employers or any chance of doing a thesis in association with the business?

So I emailed the head of the course. He said that geography students have been accepted before. He said the only issue is if I could apply myself to the water engineering and ecology type modules , I.e. the chemistry, maths and biology parts. Now I needs to make the call on whether I am able to do it.

El Siglo

Absolute Zero wrote: »

Hey El Siglo,

The Msc in Environmental science in UCD has a strong input from the engineering department, I thought that the modules in say water engineering would be good for future career prospects. How is the Msc in Trinity? Do you learn a lot of skills that can be applied to the environmental sector? For example is the practical side of the course emphasized over the theory. Is there any discussions/interactions with prospective employers or any chance of doing a thesis in association with the business?

I mean there's input from Civil Engineering in the TCD one and of the principal lecturers is based in Civil Engineering, Botany, and the Centre for the Environment. I don't think there's joint modules with civils people but we did hydrogeology, waste water treatment, the usual stuff within our School (Natural Sciences), so it's not so much an issue. You learn a lot of skills, in terms of data analysis, wet chemistry, GIS, report writing that kind of stuff. Both theory and practical, but for example you'd have a group project where you have to write a report on data you would have collected and then interpret it. So it's a very good balance between theory and practice and to be frank it probably verges more on practical elements than anything else. There was a careers advisor and some chap from the EPA in but I mean if you wanted to do your MSc thesis with a company then there's no reason why you shouldn't. It's something you have to discuss with the course director and your potential thesis supervisor.

So I emailed the head of the course. He said that geography students have been accepted before. He said the only issue is if I could apply myself to the water engineering and ecology type modules , I.e. the chemistry, maths and biology parts. Now I needs to make the call on whether I am able to do it.

You'll be fine. The engineering is some process modelling stuff, but you're taught to derive these by first principals (i.e., they'll walk you through it and then you apply it). The chemistry isn't too bad, just knowing anions from cations and doing an ion balance for a river catchment or something. It's stuff like this that, yes not coming strictly from a science background isn't great, but not all the engineers or other science graduates would have done this type of stuff either. As I said I did an undergrad in geography and had no laboratory experience, did biology in the leaving cert, no statistics, no GIS. But with a bit of reading and study you can learn most of these things. I liked the masters, there was freedom to think about different stuff (especially in the thesis) and the stuff you were learning in the modules was really interesting. The course in Trinity is pretty small, no more than 16 people, but it made it even better craic as we were all working together on stuff and we were all motivated etc... so no pissing about. Anyway, good luck with whatever way you go with things, I'm sure you'll be fine!